Author’s Note: This story jumps ahead in time from early season two to mid season 3 just after UltraWoman. I wanted to tell each of the three stories from different character perspectives — “Cat Got Your Tongue?” is from Lois’, “Satisfaction Brought it Back” is from Clark’s and this story is from Cat’s. I thought it would be a good way to round out the “Like Herding Cats” trilogy and I got the chance to write Cat Grant who I have always enjoyed as a character with untapped potential.
Thank you SO much ksarasara for all your help, coaching and amazing comments!
Summary: Almost two years later, a newly engaged Lois Lane and Cat Grant sit down for lunch. Amid their newfound friendship, Cat asks Lois a question that’s been weighing on her mind for years…
Cat’s Eye View
Cat Grant was running late. She was supposed to be at the small diner on Second St. fifteen minutes ago. A business meeting had gone long and Cat hadn’t been able to excuse herself in time. Turned out, being the boss of a fledgling magazine had been more work than she’d ever imagined.
She crossed the street and walked briskly towards the diner. It had been a good meeting. Her magazine was growing, subscriptions were up and it looked like she had someone willing to invest and help it grow to the next level. She’d like to think it was down to her business acumen, but timing and a hefty inheritance from a grandmother she barely knew had helped.
With the diner in sight, she thought back to her previous life as a gossip columnist for the Daily Planet. On the surface, she’d seemed to be the life of the party, but deep down she hadn’t been happy at all. She’d been contemplating leaving the Planet for a few months before it had shut down, but that had been the push she’d needed. She hadn’t been attached to the Planet the way the others had. After all, they’d seen her as nothing more than a novelty and not a serious journalist.
But things were different now. She was different. And, ironically that difference had allowed her to do something she never thought she’d do — befriend Lois Lane.
It was Lois she was late to meet in the diner. Because Cat’s office was nearby, she often went to the diner on her lunch break, and even though her office was nowhere near the Planet, she’d somehow managed to run into Lois a few times since that first meeting. Eventually, after their third or fourth lunch, she’d given Lois her card and told her to call her any time she wanted to catch up. She’d done so casually, but it had still caused Lois to raise an eyebrow in surprise. Still, she’d pocketed her card, and a couple of weeks later, she’d received a call from Lois letting her know she’d be in the area that day.
She entered the diner, and gave Lois a wave. She waved back with an easy smile that Cat would have thought impossible while working at the Planet. Lois had been so hostile then, so closed off and competitive, that any attempts at kindness and friendship had been met with suspicion. And Cat hadn’t exactly reacted well in return.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Cat said, sitting down and taking off her gloves. The air had been crisp and chilly, and Cat had dressed warmly for the walk.
“That’s okay,” Lois replied with a smile. “I ordered your usual for you since you don’t usually have a lot of time.”
Cat smiled, touched by Lois’ thoughtfulness. She barely had time to respond when Rachel — the waitress who usually had the lunch shift — set down two glasses of water, a salad for Lois and a cheeseburger and fries for Cat. She remembered Lois’ initial surprise upon seeing her favourite meal on the menu, but the cheeseburgers were the reason Cat came here so often.
“I have a bit more time today,” Cat replied, taking a much-needed bite. “That meeting was the biggest thing on the calendar, and with it out of the way, I can relax a bit.”
“How did it go?” Lois asked, digging into her food as well. Cat spent the next few moments outlining the details of the meeting they’d had with a major investor and Lois listened in companionable silence.
“It sounds like CatCo is poised to become the next great thing!” Lois said, sounding genuinely happy for her. “You deserve it. You’ve worked so hard.”
“Can you believe you just said that?” Cat asked with a slight laugh. She and Lois had not explicitly discussed this newfound friendship over the last two years. Instead, they had just…let it develop with an unspoken agreement not to mention it outright — as if doing so would cause it to crumble beneath their feet. But today, Cat was feeling somewhat reckless. “Did you ever think we’d be sitting here like this? Having lunch and getting caught up?”
“Not in a million years,” Lois admitted with a chuckle. “But I have to admit it’s nice. I know I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with at the Planet.”
“I wasn’t exactly a bundle of kittens,” Cat replied with a grimace. “But that feels like another life.”
“It really does,” Lois mused. As she took a sip of her water, the question that had been on the tip of Cat’s lips ever since she’d sat down was answered. Lois Lane was wearing an engagement ring!
“Lois Lane, I am insulted!” Cat exclaimed in mock offense. “How dare you get engaged and not tell me about it right away?”
“And risk having it announced on the front page of CatCo Magazine?” Lois retorted with a slight flush in her cheeks. She watched as Lois glanced down at the ring, as if remembering it was there, and Cat concluded that this engagement was recent. “I mean it only happened two days ago for heaven’s sake.”
“And what makes you think you and Kent are worth my front page?” Cat shot back with a mischievous grin. They were friends now, yes, but the old rivalry was still there, though tempered by time and mutual understanding.
“Oh please, we’re front page news and you know it!” Lois said with a grin, holding out her hand so Cat could get a better view of the ring. Despite her attempts to hide it, Cat had never seen Lois Lane so fully and completely happy. It felt good knowing that she was partly responsible for it.
She shoved those thoughts to the side and leaned forward, almost vibrating with curiosity. The part of her that thought she was done with the ‘gossip business’ reared its head, and she found herself needing to know all the details.
“So how did it happen?” she asked her. “How did he do it?”
Lois smiled almost bashfully. “He didn’t. I did,” she replied. “Well, actually, he did do it. But I turned him down, and after a little while I…changed my mind and proposed to him.”
“I’m not talking about the proposal!” Cat exclaimed, with an airy wave of her perfectly manicured hand. She leaned even closer. “I mean how did he…you know…tell you his secret?”
“What do you mean?” Lois gave her a blank stare that would impress even the most brutal interrogator for the CIA, which told Cat she had been keeping Clark’s secret for a while now. Well, Cat had been keeping it longer, and she had to know.
“I mean his secret,” she said, giving the word special emphasis as she lowered her voice to a near-whisper. “Don’t play dumb with me, Lane, I want to know how he told you that he’s Superman. I’ve waited years for this!”
“You…” Lois stammered, dropping her fork. “I don’t know what you mean. Clark isn’t —”
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” Cat said with a slight roll of her eyes. “I’ve known his secret since he flew through the window with you in his arms, so let’s just skip past you trying to deny it and right on to you telling me how he told you. You don’t have to worry about me. After all, if I had planned to tell anyone, I would have done so already, wouldn’t I?”
“I…” Lois sat for a moment looking stunned. Then, sighing slightly, she looked around the diner to make sure nobody was listening before speaking. “How did you figure it out?”
“My job at the Planet was literally to report the gossip on every major public figure in this city,” Cat reminded her. “And I was very good at my job. It wasn’t hard to figure it out, especially since both Clark and Superman looked at you the exact same way.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t publish it,” Lois said, still sounding slightly shocked.
“Lois, give me some credit,” Cat replied, feeling the slight sting of old wounds. “I know I was a ‘mud slinging rumour monger’, but I did have some scruples, and publishing something like that would have destroyed Clark’s life. I couldn’t do that to him.”
“I’m sorry,” Lois apologised, “I didn’t mean to —”
“Forget about it,” Cat said, recognising the genuineness of the apology. “Water under the bridge. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, are you going to tell me how he told you, or not?”
A moment passed where Lois appeared to consider it. Then, slowly, a smile spread across Lois’ face, and Cat felt an odd sort of warmth spread through her as well. She hadn’t realised just how badly she’d needed this friendship. And strangely, she suspected that Lois felt the same.
She sat, contented with that feeling as Lois proceeded to confide in her.
“Well actually, he didn’t tell me, I figured it out…”
The End
Last edited by lovetvfan; 04/14/23 08:24 AM.
